HDGF and esophageal cancer: Hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF), an acidic heparin-binding growth factor, has been implicated in the progression of diverse human malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinoma (3, 4), pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer (5) gastric cancer (6–8), colorectal cancer (9–11), and gastrointestinal stromal tumor (12).